Delaware Valley Alumni Chapter, located around the Philadelphia region.

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Halloween is only ten days away! Do you have your costume picked out yet? If not, don’t worry. I’ve got five awesome last-minute DIY ideas for you. These are the best, because they allow you to show your fraternal spirit at the same time!

5. The Fraternal Colors

This costume is amazing – it’s super simple, it’s easy to move around in, and you’ll be the classiest person at any party you go to. Want to go one step further and make this even better? Glue a couple past issues of “The Purple and Gold” to yourself. Now you have reading material if you get bored!

4. The Seal

Have you got a hodgepodge of previous Halloween costumes lying around? This costume is perfect for you! You can also easily find these items at any costume shop. Just grab a shield from a warrior costume, a cane from a shepherd costume, a lamp from a genie costume, a bike chain, and a book. Presto, you’re our fraternal seal! While dressed up, feel free to use this opportunity to explain to non-brother friends (if you have any) what each element represents. BAM, you just turned this Halloween party into a scholarship event!

3. The Alternative Break Project

Grab some old clothes, go roll around in the dirt, and grab a shovel. Voila, you’re ABP! There’s no better way to show your support for our national philanthropy than volunteering at the actual Alternative Break Project, but coming in a close second is dressing up like the event. This year’s location hasn’t been publicized just yet, but it’s being announced on National’s Facebook page by the end of the month. Go the extra mile, and pick up a baseball hat for the sports team of the chosen city.

2. Group Costume – Hendricks, Phillips, and McClure

This is another super easy costume idea. All it requires is a dark suit and some hair gel (so you can comb your hair to one side). You can even take this one step further by putting on some white face paint so you look just like the photos! Make sure to determine between you and your friends who’s going to be which founder, so the one who gets Phillips can pick up a fake mustache to wear. Looking through the Scholar’s Province for a costume idea works just as well if you’re a couple instead of a group– you can go as Dr. Todd and Sweetheart!

1. Jonah Goodman

Possibly the most recognizable Phi Sigma Pi costume is dressing up as our National President, Jonah Goodman. Again, this is best accomplished by wearing a suit, but would also work if you were wearing a tank top, bathrobe, or grass skirt (if you’d like to narrow your costume down to “National Convention Jonah”). Make sure to talk about “the wiki” and “making a Wawa run” the entire night to stay in character.

Got any other great Phi Sigma Pi related costume ideas? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Now that National Convention is over, everything else seems a bit more humdrum. I’ve also started to notice that, even though Convention lasted only a few days, I really got used to a few things. In fact, now it seems like I’m going through withdrawal. I think I have…. an addiction to brotherhood. *Gasp!* Check out my list and let me know if any of this sounds familiar. If you’re nodding your head at each of these, you might also be a CONVENTION-AHOLIC.

1. I still find myself checking everyone’s tweets to see if they’re tagged #pspnc13.

2. I absolutely loved meeting Bros from other chapters and being able to show them around my city. Come on back to Philly anytime, folks!

3. Definitely miss watching brothers at Banquet realize the award speech is about them and their chapter.

4. Well, I obviously find myself craving some Team Wawa runs…

5. BROTHERHOOOOD CHECK!! I wish I could shout this every day.

6. Following National Secretary Chris McCoy on Twitter (@baconandbowties) to see his Vines of Grand Chapter was fantastic. More, please!

7. Is there a way to bottle up the wit/humor/snark/awesome of @NYMAAC and @NAA1tweets‘s constant Twitter commentary? That definitely made my days better.

8. If everyone selling t-shirts at the Chapter Fest and Bazaar could just set up shop in my tiny closet, that’d be great, because I will never have enough PSP swag.

9. Speaking of swag, can we talk about how addictive the ribbons for everyone’s badges were?! So. Fun.

10. Getting M&M’s delivered straight to you starts to make a Bro feel pampered. I’ve been trying to train my cat to do it, but he’s not at all cooperative. He’s not a very good Peanut.

So now that I’ve accepted my fratern-addiction, what’s a Brother to do? I guess I’ll just have to join VP of Philanthropy Development Kyle Williams in his annual epic countdown til next Convention. Only 357 days left til #pspnc14!

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Today’s the day! Our annual Alumni Weekend kicks off tonight, starting at 6:30pm with Opening Tap at Independence Mall. After we watch Mayor Nutter use the Hammer Of Glory to tap the inaugural keg of Brotherly Suds 4 (brewed especially for Philly Beer Weekend), we’ll head down to Pat’s and Geno’s to chow on some cheesesteaks, then continue on to Devil’s Den for their amazing beer bash. Last year’s event had a slew of great beers, so I’m really looking forward to all the fantastic brews that will be unveiled tonight.

The rest of the weekend’s schedule is up on our Facebook event. I’ll also be live-tweeting our events the whole weekend, so feel free to check out our Twitter if you’re not able to come out but you’d still like to follow along.

T-shirts just came in last night so all who registered early will be able to pick theirs up tonight. If you didn’t fill out a registration fee but would still like a shirt (as you can see above, they do look pretty snazzy), I’ll have a few extra available for purchase for $15.

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We went out to Dave & Buster’s this past weekend for a great time playing trivia and arcade games. (Not surprisingly, we were pretty awesome at the trivia game.) We also had a really helpful event-brainstorming session over dinner with Member Services Coordinator Nick Christy. Thanks to everyone for coming out!

Summer is a busy time for DVAC, so we also talked about all the upcoming events and deadlines. Here’s a tentative schedule of the upcoming months: (Or you can always check the calendar tab to see what’s going on)

MAY EVENTS

Today – 5/14 – NAA Nominations are due by 5pm.

Tomorrow – 5/15 – Registration is due for Alumni Convention.

This Saturday – 5/18 – DVAC’s Day at the Races. Come on out to Delaware Park to watch the Preakness, and we’ll also open nominations for our Grand Chapter Delegate and discuss/introduce some important changes to our Chapter’s Bylaws.

8:00pm: South Street bar crawl – starting at The Twisted Tail, 2nd and South. Live music starting at 9pm!

Sunday, June 2 – Museum District

11:30am: Brunch –Sabrina’s Café, 18th and Callowhill

1:00pm: Scholarship event – Free Library of Philadelphia, 19th and the Parkway. Learn about the history of how beer has been made, sold, and advertised in Philadelphia.

Check out with host Brothers.

Feel free to send an email, tweet, or Facebook message to PSPDVAC, and I’ll send you a registration packet. Forms and fees ($20 per person, includes subway tokens for the weekend and a t-shirt) are due by Monday, May 20th. I can’t wait to see everyone out!

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Are you ready to help clean up Mother Earth? Earth Day is coming up in April, and Philadelphia is celebrating by having a city-wide Philly Spring Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 13. After a poll on our Facebook group, the neighborhood we’ll be headed to is Society Hill in Center City. The details of the event are below.

Philly Spring Cleanup Day

Date: Saturday, April 13Time: 9:00am – 2:00pmLocation: Starr Garden, 600 Lombard StreetDescription: At Starr Garden (6th and Lombard), we plan to collect trash and leaves, paint the fence, touch up paint on benches, and maintain and prep the garden. We’ll be outside in the dirt and picking up trash, so please dress appropriately.Closest public transit: The Market-Frankford Line stops at 5th and Market (7 blocks away), and PATCO stops at 9th and Locust (6 blocks away).

Afterwards, we’ll be heading to lunch on South Street, just a block away.

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Let’s face it, now that you’ve graduated and you’re out in the real world, things are a bit different. And isn’t it awesome?! Graduating and becoming an alum in general definitely has its perks, and even more so when you’re a Brother of Phi Sigma Pi. Here are my own top seven reasons I absolutely love being an alumna. (Why top seven? Well, why not?)

1. Alumni Convention
You get to take a several-day vacation in a cool new city with a whole bunch of your friends that you might not have seen in a while. Yup, definitely awesome.

2. Being an Alumni Advisor
Being an Alumni Advisor is a great way to help out with an undergrad Chapter. You feel like you’re really making a difference, and there’s definitely a great sense of pride when you see them do well or induct a new initiate class.

3. The Lampadion
As a registered NAA member, you get two issues of The Lampadion/Purple & Gold every year. It’s the best magazine because it talks about people you actually know and get to meet in real life! Plus, it’s always nice to get snail mail nowadays, especially if it’s not junk mail or bills.

4. No Business Meetings
Do you remember those Chapter Business Meetings where you’d have elections? And they’d take forever? We would even have a couple of Brothers in our Chapter that would bring a Snuggie to meeting (alright, maybe I was one of them!) because everyone knew they’d be there for a while, so they’d better get cozy. Not so with Alumni-hood!

5. Happy Hours
Really, what’s not to love about Happy Hours?

6. Staying in Touch
Being an alumna gives me a chance to keep in touch with my favorite people from my college years – my Brothers! I can see them at National events, and read about any exciting life events like marriages, babies, and promotions in the Alumni Newsletter Emails.

7. Broadening Your Social Circle
Not only have I kept in touch with a lot of people from college due to staying active in Phi Sigma Pi as an alumna, but I’ve also met countless new people. I think this reason is actually my favorite, because I can honestly say that the people I’ve met through Alumni-hood have helped create some of my life’s most enriching experiences, and definitely changed me for the better.

Any reasons I missed? Feel free to comment and let me know all your favorite perks!